Hsi-Chang Lin

Angry protesters gathered in the streets of Athens yesterday, following a vote on austerity measures which the parliament backed with a vote of 155–138. Was any of this avoidable? Is it possible that Greece’s economy was undone by the structure of the Eurozone’s financial rules that demand strict fiscal requirements, but no political unanimity?

Last week, President Barack Obama unveiled his strategy for a staged troop withdrawal out of Afghanistan. He followed the announcement with a plan to focus more attention on rebuilding the home front. We asked our listeners how they would put the estimated $10 billion per month that the country currently spends in Afghanistan to better use here at home. We received a ton of great responses, many of them focused on the exploration and development of green technologies.

A new report by the State Department says 27 million people are victims of human trafficking worldwide. Though the report names Libya, Iran, Myanmar, and Sudan as the worst offenders when it comes to human trafficking, the United States is not immune to the problem. Hundreds of thousands of people are trafficked in the U.S., and most of them are women and children. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has advocated for a solution to this problem, saying world leaders need to do more to combat it. But our guests say it's not just up to law enforcement and border control to prevent trafficking—hospitality and travel workers can be the first line of defense.

The 2012 Presidential race got a bit tighter yesterday after Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann officially announced her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. On the national stage, Bachmann is known for expertly exciting her base with statements that just as often inspire the ire of her opposition, even within her own party. 

In Detroit over the weekend it was hip to be square dancing. That’s because the city played host to the 60^th National Square Dance Convention. Square dance has historically appealed to the middle American sensibilities, but in Detroit—where the pastime is enjoying a resurgence—the city’s predominantly African-American population can often be found on the dance floor. 

Today the Supreme Court begins the last week of its term, and it may have saved some of its most controversial decisions for last. The court will announce decisions on four remaining cases, two of which involve First Amendment disputes.

In the case of Dukes v. Wal-Mart, lawyers potentially representing 1.5 million female employees of the “big box” chain store alleged their clients were denied management positions and equitable pay because of their gender. The Supreme Court delivered a significant victory to Wal-Mart and other large American corporations on Monday when it delivered its decision to block this huge class-action suit.   

The court ruled unanimously that the many plaintiffs' individual circumstances were too different to make up a single class action; and perhaps more significantly, in a 5-4 ruling along conservative political lines, the justice's ruled this case could not proceed as any kind of class-action suit. 

The Supreme Court unanimously agreed yesterday to reject a lawsuit brought on by six states, New York City, and several land trusts, seeking to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from major power plants. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that under the Clean Air Act, the case must be addressed by the Environmental Protection Agency, rather than by the courts. The Supreme Court maintains their 2007 ruling that only the EPA can dictate regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, but meanwhile Congress is trying to strip the EPA of its very ability to regulate these emissions. 

When Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker threatened the collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin’s public sector employees earlier this year, large scale protests assembled almost overnight as the eyes of the world descended on the Badger State. It was déjà vu in the Garden State last week, when the New Jersey State Senate approved a bill which would radically change the health care, pensions and bargaining rights of over 500,000 public sector employees. Just a decade ago, a move against pensions would be political suicide. So why are voters and lawmakers changing their state budget tactics now?

Just when things seemed to be looking up for the economy, a new report released Tuesday by the National Federation of Independent Business reveals small businesses across the country are struggling to break even. The report goes also says bleak prospects have forced many small businesses to hold off hiring new employees, as they struggle to maintain their current work force.  

Small businesses employ about half of the American workforce, an important fact when you consider the potential chain reaction of this news: no new hiring means no new spending, no new spending could spell a longer, deeper recession. 

In America, where you live directly affects how long you will live — that’s according to a new study published in Wednesday’s journal of Population Health Metrics. Using data covering the years 1987 to 2007, researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle have found that while the nation’s life expectancy is at an all time high, more than 80 percent of counties in the country are lagging behind the top 10 nations when it comes to life expectancy.

In watching the developments across the Middle East region, there seem to be one of two paths that nations experiencing the Arab Spring can take. Although 800 Egyptians died in revolts leading up to the removal of Hosni Mubarak’s long-standing regime, the country is now on a path toward more democratic rule. The same can’t be said for Libya, Syria or Yemen where entrenched regimes—or a solitary figure, in the case of Muammar Gadaffi—refuse to cede power.

While some call Egypt and Tunisia the shining model for the Arab Spring’s revolutions — isn’t it more accurate to see it as an exception to the rule of civil war? 

For millions of working Americans, calling in sick isn’t an option. That’s because 40 million employees in the United States do not have paid sick leave. This will no longer be the case for food service or day care workers in Connecticut by May 2012, because of a newly passed law requiring businesses with 50 or more employees to give their workers one hour of sick leave for every 40 hours worked.

According to a Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association report roughly two trillion text messages were sent in the U.S. last year; that figure nearly doubles the number reported in 2009. In the past few weeks, texting drivers have caused deaths in Michigan, California, and Georgia, and to date, 33 states have outlawed texting while driving. The Takeaway asks whether text messaging really is as dangerous as critics say, and if so, is outlawing texting while driving the best solution?

A troubling and worsening world economy, civil unrest across the mideast, and conflicted interests over whether to raise crude production promise to make this week’s OPEC meeting one of the more volatile in recent history. OPEC's biggest member, Saudi Arabia, has highlighted concerns that inflated energy costs are stunting the global economic recovery; going so far as to warn that it will act alone to raise supplies — even if other OPEC members ifail to reach a deal. 

Politicians and public figures are often ostracized for changing their minds (think: "flip-flop"). However, having a change of opinion part of being human. Diane Ravitch former U.S. assistant secretary of education famously changed her opinion on the efficacy of standardized testing. She was an outspoken supporter of "No Child Left Behind," and has since changed her position and is advocating against this program. She is currently a research professor at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.

In what is becoming an annual tradition, news of a targeted cyber-attack from China has once again made headlines.  Commenting on the attacks targeting the Google email accounts high-level US government officials, Secretary of State Hillary voiced her concern over what could have been a serious breach of security.  Compounded by the recent news of yet another attack against the user name and password information of tens of thousands of visitors to a Sony website, we wonder: what is the current state of cyber security to our nation's most vital intelligence assets? 

The S&P / Case-Shiller home price index report released Monday showed housing prices dropped in many parts of the country between February and March to their lowest level since the bubble burst in 2006. Behind those numbers, American families and American dreams were shattered by a mix of predatory lending, devalued home prices and complicated derivative trading on Wall Street. 

The Global Commission on Drug Policy released a report on Thursday arguing the "global war on drugs as failed.” The findings detail how criminalization of drugs and drug users has led to devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world. With millions of people involved in the cultivation, production and distribution of illicit drugs to some 250 million users worldwide, the question of what to do next is of grave importance.  

The federal government shut down the Sky Express bus company indefinitely following a crash on Tuesday which killed four passengers and injured 50. The bus, traveling from Raleigh, North Carolina to New York City, was one of three major crashes involving discount, long-distance bus companies in the Northeast in May alone.